King of large hill, Stoch wins Olympic gold in ski jumping

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — After missing the podium a week ago, defending Olympic champion Kamil Stoch came up big on the large hill.

The 30-year-old Polish ski jumper had leaps of 135 and 136.5 meters for 285.7 points to win the gold medal on the large hill at the Pyeongchang Games.

Advertisement

Normal hill gold medalist Andreas Wellinger of Germany took the silver at Alpensia Ski Jumping Center while Robert Johansson of Norway won the bronze.

Stoch, who won both the normal and large hill golds in Sochi, had to settle for fourth behind Wellinger, Johann Andre Forfang and Johansson on the normal hill.

"During the normal hill final, I was feeling OK but couldn't find my best jumps," Stoch said. "Today, I did truly my best ski jumping and these were the best jumps I could do."

Kamil Stoch, of Poland, soars through the air during men's large hill Individual ski jumping competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

First overall in the World Cup standings, Stoch was the favorite coming into the games so failing to medal would have been a huge disappointment.

He won his second straight Four Hills tournament in Bischofshofen, Austria, on Jan. 6 to become only the second ski jumper in the long history of the sport to win all four stages of the prestigious event.

The final was so close, Stoch wasn't sure if he had won after completing his second jump. Wellinger had a longer jump of 142 meters on his second attempt but finished with 282.3 points.

With a gold and a silver, the 22-year-old Wellinger is putting on quite a performance in his second Olympics.

Johann Andre Forfang, of Norway, soars through the air during men's large hill Individual ski jumping competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

"I thought my second jump was really nice," Wellinger said. "I had a chance with the headwind but after Kamil made his jump I knew he had won. I will now fight for a medal in the team event."

Johansson, with his trademark handlebar mustache, was thrilled to get his second medal.

"I'm getting more and more confidence with each jump,' Johansson said. "The whole team is doing well and I'm really enjoying this Olympics."

Japanese veteran Noriaki Kasai, the 2014 large hill silver medalist, failed to qualify for the final round.

Robert Johansson, of Norway, soars through the air during men's large hill Individual ski jumping competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

___

More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.